Steering wheel for automobile and method of fabricating the same

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a steering wheel for automobiles and a method of fabricating the same. The steering wheel is formed in multiple layers having a thickness difference of 2˜3 mm by multi-stage injection molding and has a pattern or picture between the layers to provide a luxurious and pleasant appearance. In the method, after being preheated in a dryer to remove moisture, a metal frame is subjected to primary to tertiary injection molding in a mold to form the multiple layers. Here, drying is performed to remove moisture from the surface of injection-molded parts to prevent deterioration in adherence and quality during the process. Here, the pattern or figure is inserted between the layers by pad printing or a combination of pad printing and vacuum deposition. The multi-stage injection molding allows various colors, patterns, and figures to be printed on injection-molded parts excluding the uppermost layer.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0042249, filed May 14, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to a steering wheel for automobiles and a method of fabricating the same and, more particularly, to a steering wheel for automobiles and a method of fabricating the same, which can replace a conventional wood-grain hydraulic transfer process and includes forming a steering wheel in multiple layers having a thickness difference of 2˜3 mm by multi-stage injection molding and inserting a predetermined pattern or picture between the injection-molded layers to provide a luxurious and pleasant appearance.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]In general, a steering system is provided to motor vehicles to control a traveling direction of the vehicle, and includes a h...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0029]The present invention is directed to solving the above and other problems of the related art, and an aspect of the invention is to provide a steering wheel for automobiles and a method of fabricating the same, which can replace a conventional wood-grain hydraulic transfer process and includes forming a steering wheel in multiple layers having a thickness difference of 2˜3 mm by multi-stage injection molding and inserting a predetermined pattern or picture between the injection-molded layers to provide a luxurious and pleasant appearance to the steering wheel.

[0030]Particularly, the inventor found based on repeated investigation that, when the outermost layer was maintained in an injection-molded thickness of 2˜3 mm with the pattern disposed under the outermost layer, the pattern appeared more pleasant and luxurious and provided a voluminous appearance. Therefore, another aspect of the invention is to protect mold manufacturing and injection molding technologies that can realize the result of the investigation.

[0031]A further aspect of the invention is to provide a steering wheel for automobiles and a method of fabricating the same that can prevent generation of waste water during fabrication of the steering wheel by application of pad printing or a combination of pad printing and vacuum deposition as a method of inserting the pattern into the steering wheel.

Problems solved by technology

In this case, the rigid polyurethane foam provides some merits in terms of cushioning properties and non-slip to the steering wheel, but also provides a monotonous appearance and unpleasant tactile sensation.

However, although the handle cover slightly relieves the monotonous appearance and unpleasant tactile sensation of the current steering wheel, it entails an increase in thickness of the steering wheel, so that a driver cannot stably grip the steering wheel, thereby obstructing stable manipulation of the steering wheel.

The leather handle compensates for the aforementioned problems, but still provides problems of slipping and unpleasant appearance caused by accumulation of dirt from the hands of a driver after extended use.

As a result, the injection-molded surface of the ABS resin is too uneven to transfer the wood-grain film thereto.

However, even when the surface grinding is performed before the hydraulic transfer, the wood-grain film is likely to be delaminated from the surface due to poor adhesion of the film.

As a result, some of the film is stripped off from the steering wheels of new cars sold to consumers, thereby causing consumer dissatisfaction.

However, the method disclosed in Korean Patent No. 0887532 has some problems.

As mentioned above, the method includes inserting the steering wheel including the metal frame composed of the first and second zones into the first mold, followed by heating the steering wheel to 60˜80° C., and inserting the steering wheel into the second mold and heating the steering wheel to 60˜80° C. However, there is no practical process of inserting the steering wheel into the first or second mold and heating the steering wheel therein, and it is technically difficult to realize such a process in practice.

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